John Curry
| birth_place = Shorewood, MN, USA | draft = Undrafted | image = John Curry.jpg | image_size=250px | career_start = 2007 |}} John Curry (born February 27, 1984) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing with the Hamburg Freezers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. He was part of the Pittsburgh Penguins' practice squad when they won the Stanley Cup in 2009. Early playing career John Curry played for the Breck School Mustangs, where he compiled a 1.80 GAA as team captain and MVP in his senior season of 2001–02. After graduating from Breck, Curry attended a year at the Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, during which he achieved a 1.46 GAA and a .920 save percentage, and was named a New England Prep School West First Team All-Star. Boston University After high school, Curry received offers to play for numerous Division III colleges, yet enrolled at Boston University as a walk-on third-string goaltender. In his freshman year at BU, Curry played only the final 5:10 against Niagara University, filling in for starter Sean Fields in a 5–1 victory. In the 2004–05 season, Curry became the first-string goalie, posting an 18–11–3 in-conference record, participating in his first NCAA tournament, and winning his first Beanpot final, 3–2, over Northeastern University. As a junior, Curry was named to the RBK All-American second team and was a first-team Hockey East All-Star. He started in 36 of 37 games, attaining a 24–8–4 record that included a 12-game winning streak from December 30, 2005 to February 13, 2006. The team went on to win the Hockey East Championship and Curry played in another NCAA tournament. For the season he garnered awards including Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week (four times), Player of the Week, and Goaltender of the Month. Curry was named assistant captain of the Terriers in the 2006–2007 season, his final season, yet again improving his performance statistically to date and standing out as a key player in the clutch. He again won the Beanpot final, posting a career Beanpot record of 5–0 and setting a record .985 save percentage in his final tournament. He went on to win both the Beanpot MVP and the Beanpot's Eberly Award for goaltending, holding the best recorded GAA of 0.48 with 1 goal allowed. In 2007, Curry was also named a finalist for college hockey's top-player, the Hobey Baker Award, while winning Hockey East Player of the Year and getting the Hockey East Three-Stars award. Curry's college career ended abruptly when he surrendered 5 goals on 26 shots in Michigan State's first round 2007 NCAA Tournament upset of the Terriers. Professional career Curry was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Penguins on July 1, 2007. He was expected to split time with David Brown between the backup goaltending position on the organization's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and the starting position on the double-A ECHL Wheeling Nailers in the 2007–08 season. With an injury to Pittsburgh starter Marc-Andre Fleury, WBS starter Ty Conklin was called up to the NHL at the beginning of December 2007, opening the door for Curry to start in WBS. In December 2007 he was named AHL Rookie of the Month, posting a GAA of 1.42 and .939% save percentage. Throughout the rest of the regular season, he established himself as the starter for the team, and was named to the AHL All-Rookie team. In the Calder Cup playoffs, Curry was solid, and backstopped his team to the finals, eventually losing to the Chicago Wolves in 6 games. Curry was selected to travel to Sweden with the Pittsburgh Penguins as a backup to Marc-Andre Fleury and Dany Sabourin at the beginning of the 2008–09 NHL season but did not play. He was recalled in November due to an injury to Fleury and saw his first NHL game action on November 26 against the New York Islanders, replacing Sabourin in the second period and facing Joey MacDonald, whom he had fought in the AHL the season before. He made 11 saves in 30+ shutout minutes as part of a comeback win. Curry made his first NHL start on November 28 in a loss to the Buffalo Sabres, though he stopped 28 of 32 shots. Curry was later recalled on January 11, 2010 to replace Marc-Andre Fleury against the Vancouver Canucks. Fleury who was out with a fractured finger, gave Curry his fourth career start with the Penguins. He gave up 5 goals on 14 shots, a save percentage of .643, before being benched early in the second period. On June 16, 2011, Curry left the Penguins organization and signed a one-year contract with the Hamburg Freezers of the DEL. . Curry left the Wilkes-Barre Penguins as the all-time leader in both regular season wins and post-season winsCitizensVoice.com: Curry to Germany 6/16. Career statistics Family John Curry is the oldest child of parents Steve and Kathy Curry. He has one younger sister, Megan Curry, who attends Amherst College; she is a forward on the Amherst Women's Ice Hockey team. References External links * * Category:Born in 1984 Category:American ice hockey players Category:Boston University Terriers players Category:Hamburg Freezers players Category:Las Vegas Wranglers players Category:Pittsburgh Penguins players Category:Wheeling Nailers players Category:Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players